Michael Green on the Lord’s Supper

Found this Michael Green quote in Stott’s The Cross of Christ (p. 272-273):

“We never outgrow the fact that we are sinners still, totally dependent each day on the grace of God to the undeserving.  We do not come to offer; in the first place we come to receive.  The very nature of a supper declares this.  We are the hungry, coming to be fed.  We are the undeserving, welcomed freely at the Lord’s table.”

[The quote is from a chapter Green wrote in a book called Guidelines, edited by J. I. Packer.]

Green simply uses the idea of a “supper” to illustrate truth about the “Lord’s Supper.”  We have nothing to offer; our sacrifice of worship is only in response to Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  We come to the Lord’s Supper to receive.

This quote could illustrate all of the Lord’s Supper passages – Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and 1 Corinthians 11.  It could also illustrate passages that speak of Jesus’ sacrifice and our complete inability to save ourselves: Galatians 2, Ephesians 2, and many others.

Tags: Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11, Galatians 2, Ephesians 2, Lord’s Supper, Sacrifice, Worship, Grace

A Different Kind of Royal Baby

I am currently preaching through Matthew, and the timing was perfect last weekend for our message on the arrival of the wise men in chapter 2. That same weekend, the UK was on pins and needles waiting for the next royal baby. There was a hashtag (#greatkatewait), an 80-year-old man camping outside the hospital, and a live blog. All of this, for the second child of William and Kate, who will most likely never make it to the throne. This is how societies normally react to the arrival of important babies – especially royal ones.

That’s why the wise men initially went to Jerusalem in chapter 2 and presented themselves to Herod, assuming that the Baby would be at the palace or, at the very least, that Herod would know where He was. But Jesus was a different kind of royal Baby. This One, although infinitely greater than anyone in the British (or any other) ruling family, came humbly, born in a manger, to a poor carpenter’s family. During His ministry, He lived as a homeless Man. Finally, He endured brutal suffering and died a humiliating and excruciating death. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2). He is the King of Kings, yet He comes in grace and love and humility. And this makes Him all the more worthy of your worship.

Tags: Matthew 2, Philippians 2, Passion narratives

Paul and Tim Tebow – Two Abnormal Births

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is speaking of the absolutely essential nature of the resurrection with regard to our faith.  Along the way, he gives strong evidence for the resurrection and discusses his own “abnormal” or “untimely” spiritual birth.  Tim Tebow’s own unusual birth story is well-known, so I won’t explain it here: here’s Randy Alcorn’s summary if you want details.

Tebow’s physical birth is a huge story of God’s grace and power, just like the story of Paul’s spiritual birth.  This is how I worded the connection between them:

“Tim’s birth was abnormal.  He almost died twice – once at the hands of the strong medicine, and once through the doctors’ medical advice.  But this situation wasn’t too much for God; it wasn’t too late for Him to intervene and bring His magnificent, glorious grace to the situation.  In Tim’s physical birth, and in Paul’s spiritual birth, He has shown that He is a God of great grace.”

From there, I think it is relatively easy to use both of these stories as pictures of God’s great grace in saving ALL of us.  My heart was no less in need of redemption than Paul’s heart.  In fact, I wasn’t preaching on 1 Corinthians 15 as my main text when I used this.  I used that passage as a cross-reference to my primary text, and then I used the Tebow story.

So, this illustration could be used for a lot of passages that deal with the miracle of God’s grace: Romans 3, Romans 5, Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Galatians 1 (also about Paul’s story), Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, 1 Timothy 1:14, 2 Timothy 1:9, and many more.